Speaking to Automotive News Europe, Jean-Marc Gales (pictured above, left), CEO of Lotus, has announced plans to open more dealers in an effort to expand the company’s global network. The ailing British carmaker recorded a lost of up to £159 million (RM833.55 million) in the last fiscal year and is set to let 325 of its 1,215 employees go.
“We have opened nine new dealerships worldwide over the past six months and I would not exclude having 20 more in this financial year,” added Gales. Out of the supposed 20 new dealerships being touted, we can expect cities like London, Paris, Madrid and Berlin to feature a Lotus showroom in the current absence of an official presence.
In the first four months of the new fiscal year, Lotus has managed to increase its sales by up to 46% but even then that is far from what the company deems as a safe zone to secure a financially stable future, according to Gales. “We need to continue to reduce costs and we are fully aware of the hardship that brings for our workforce,” he added.
Further steps taken to keep Lotus on track “will be a couple of announcements of product enhancements that will make the heart of any Lotus enthusiast beat faster.” Sadly, no further details were disclosed by the CEO. With said intentions being executed, Gales is hopeful that Lotus “will return to profitability in the very foreseeable future.”
When quizzed on the likelihood of any of the famous five concepts – unveiled during the era of Dany Bahar – making a comeback, Gales was firm with his response. “No – nothing. They were not ready for any form of serious production.” Which contradicts what Bahar said earlier this year when he declared that the Esprit was on course for 2014 and would have shifted the paradigm for Lotus.
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“When quizzed on the likelihood of any of the famous five concepts – unveiled during the era of Dany Bahar – making a comeback, Gales was firm with his response. “No – nothing. They were not ready for any form of serious production.” Which contradicts what Bahar said earlier this year when he declared that the Esprit was on course for 2014 and would have shifted the paradigm for Lotus.”
THE PLOT THICKENS! What happened behind closed doors? They can’t both be right. Someone’s lying through their teeth.
Wow keep on making big loss! Bravo Lotus Proton!
If DRB not enough money, better call EPF or Petronas for help okay!!
Come on, make the Esprit a reality already. I’ve been waiting since the last Esprit is shown in 007. The 5 concepts are nice enough, no need to mess with them. Also don’t bother making the SUV or other Proton mixed breed crap as Lotus is about lightweight. If Gales approves the SUV and not the 5 concepts, Lotus should change their CEO!
Gales is quite right. The 2014 Esprit and those concepts are not good enough to turn Lotus’ fate. Many new stunning supercars came out this year, the Esprit would’ve become bland and boring by the time it’s launched. It needs to be more unique than that and that requires shitload of money.
To get more money, they have to make cars that are accessible to more mainstream drivers. Very similar to Porsche’s method.
I believe the working prototype is there but it’s still not optimized for production. The current Lotus models are rapidly ageing though and need major revamp..and I’m not sure if the proposed Lotus SUV/crossover will make any Lotus enthusiast’s hearts beat faster (no I don’t think so)..The car above – yes. Maybe a sports sedan/coupe.
You can apointened thousand people , the main think is how to captured the people heart to buy this lousy lotus car
Gales, please put power steering on Exige S. U already slotted the IPS trans to make it accessible to wider audience. Make it even more tempting with additional of power steering. Even though it will affect the precision of the car, it will definitely capture new buyers who find the car too heavy for slow maneuver. The current Exige S with V6 engine is considered heavy compared to 850kg Elise. Just make do with conventional hydraulic setup to retain the most feedback from the wheels instead of electric system. Exiges S + IPS + Power Steering = now you get the car that smash right into Cayman’s market. Exige S with IPS can do 0-100 in just 3.9s while top of the line Cayman GTS only capable of reaching the century sprint in 4.5 seconds. Oh, and please make the Power steering as an option.
And if they do, would you buy it?
I mean really2 buying it?
Increase dealerships to sell what? Air liur? LOL
You don’t even have sufficient dealerships in your parent country Malaysia.
Only one dealer in KL and not in any other states.
Pathetic!
Increasing new dealership by selling old existing models and cutting more cost would delay overall manufacturing KPI this year, what exactly DRB Hicom is doing now that just want to make profit only….it’s about money, nothing else does matter. There are many new cars around the world to choose from segment A to C…and Lotus will continue to struggle by next year again and better yet, they gonna lend new technologies to Proton for new crossover development. Epic failed.